page_title: Flag of the Russian-American Company
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of the Russian-American Company / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Flag of the Tsar of Moscow (Moscow Military museum). Русский: Флаг Царя Московского (Центральный военно-историчекий музей).
context_page_description: The flag of the Russian-American Company, first adopted in 1806, consisted of a variation of the horizontal white-blue-red tricolor of the flag of Russia, but with the white stripe broader than the other two, and containing a double-headed eagle symbol of the company. The exact form and placement of the eagle was subject to variations, before Russian rule over Alaska ended in 1867.
context_section_description: On September 28 (October 10, new style), 1806, Emperor Alexander I of Russia made a notation on the design submitted to him of a new flag for the Russian-American Company: "So be it", and added his cypher, thereby approving the first flag in Russia's history to be used by an Imperial chartered company.
  After Imperial confirmation, the ukaz was heard in the Senate, and on 19 October 1806 was sent for execution to the main office of the Russian-American Company (RAC), and also to the Admiralty and Commerce colleges.
  The Tsar himself was a shareholder in the new Company, as were other members of the Imperial family and many of St. Petersburg's aristocracy and society. Indeed, following the formation of Russia's first joint-stock company by Imperial decree in 1799, and the relocation of its headquarters from Irkutsk to the Imperial capital in 1801, the Company, referred to in Russian as "Under His Imperial Majesty's protection Russian-American Company"  (Russian: "Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американская Компания - Pod vysochaĭshim Yego Imperatorskogo Velichestva pokrovitelʹstvom Rossiĭskaya-Amerikanskaya Kompaniya") had changed from a predominantly  merchant-class enterprise to a "favourite" of Russia's upper classes.
  The new Company flag design of 1806 placed the Imperial eagle in the upper left quarter of Russia's commercial flag. In order that the State symbol remain unobstructed and more visible, the width of the upper (white) stripe was enlarged to cover roughly one half of the flag's width.( The normal width proportions of Russia's commercial flag were equal thirds.) The Imperial eagle carried a scroll which dipped into the blue stripe, also for more visibility. It bore the inscription, in abbreviated form, "Russian American Company's". The symbolism of the scroll beneath the Imperial eagle complemented the official version of the Company's name "Under His Imperial…"
  This new design had precedents in Russian history. In 1693 Peter I had used a white-blue-red horizontally-striped flag with a golden two-headed eagle in the centre, called the "Flag of the Tsar of Moscow". Also in 1693, Russian merchant ships flew a white flag with a black double-headed eagle in the centre. In 1705, by Imperial decree, Peter I established the Russian commercial flag.
  
  In 1803, Russia's first circumnavigation of the globe departed Kronstadt under the command of Ivan Kruzenstern (Adam Johann von Krusenstern). The Minister of Commerce, Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev, who would later undertake the project of introducing the new RAC flag,  sponsored the expedition which carried RAC Director Court Chamberlain Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov as Russia's first Ambassador to Japan. The Company underwrote the expedition's expenses. There was some concern as to which flag the ships of the expedition, the NEVA and NADEZHDA would carry: Russia's commercial flag, as the sponsors were the Minister of Commerce and the RAC, or Russia's naval ensign of St. Andrew, as the ships were commanded and crewed by naval personnel. The Tsar himself granted permission for the use of the naval ensign,   as this mission was to carry an Imperial Ambassador to a foreign court as well as open new markets in China to the Company.
   The use of the naval ensign aboard the NEVA eventually caused difficulties to Kruzenstern in China. Upon arrival in Macao, the Chinese refused to give permission for a "ship of war" to trade in Canton. Because Kruzenstern had arrived flying the St. Andrew's ensign aboard the NADEZHDA, he had to consider "changing" the NEVA into a merchant vessel for purposes of trade.
  The relationship of the Navy to the Company continued to perplex the naval officers who dealt with the Company. During a visit to New Archangel (Sitka) in 1818, Captain V.M. Golovnin had to decide what to do about official salutes to the fortress' flag. He reasoned that "Taking into account that the Company, although a commercial venture, nevertheless owns extensive territory, enjoys sovereign patronage, and has the Imperial Russian coat-of-arms 
caption: Flag of the Tsar of Moscow
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